The stench of blood filled the cavern.

  The bodies of Nightfangs lay scattered across the cold stone floor, their dark fur slick with fresh wounds.

  Gareth wiped his spear clean, his expression unreadable.

  Kara rolled her shoulders, exhaling like she had just finished a warm-up.

  Leah checked her mana reserves, her staff still glowing faintly from the last spell.

  And Ethan?

  Ethan stood frozen.

  His hands trembled. His breath was uneven.

  Because he had come face-to-face with death.

  And he had done nothing.

  A Harsh Reality

  “You almost got yourself killed.”

  Kara’s voice cut through the silence, sharp and irritated.

  Ethan flinched.

  She turned toward him, expression full of disdain.

  “You were standing there like a damn statue,” she snapped. “If Leah hadn’t been watching your back, that Nightfang would’ve ripped your throat out.”

  Ethan looked away.

  Because she wasn’t wrong.

  He had frozen.

  When the Nightfang lunged at him, his body had refused to move.

  Not because he hadn’t expected danger.

  But because in that split second—

  He had realized something terrifying.

  He didn’t belong here.

  He wasn’t strong enough.

  He wasn’t like them.

  “Leave him alone, Kara,” Leah sighed, brushing her blonde bangs out of her face. “He’s not a fighter. He’s just here to carry supplies.”

  “That’s exactly my point,” Kara shot back. “He doesn’t belong here. He’s a liability.”

  Ethan’s hands curled into tight fists.

  Gareth finally spoke.

  “Enough.”

  Kara clicked her tongue but didn’t push further.

  Ethan let out a quiet breath.

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  Not because he was grateful.

  But because he knew—

  Gareth didn’t defend him because he cared.

  He just didn’t want drama in the middle of a dungeon.

  “Let’s move,” Gareth ordered. “We still have a ways to go.”

  They pressed deeper into the Nightshade Caverns.

  The air grew colder, the passageways narrower.

  Ethan forced himself to focus on his breathing, keeping his steps light to avoid making unnecessary noise.

  The others moved fluidly, their formation tight and efficient.

  They didn’t need to talk much.

  They understood their roles.

  They knew how to watch each other’s backs.

  Ethan wasn’t part of that.

  He was extra weight.

  The thought dug into his chest like a blade.

  It wasn’t the first time he had been made to feel worthless.

  But here—inside a dungeon, where one mistake meant death—

  That weight felt so much heavier.

  His grip tightened on the straps of his pack.

  He was supposed to be here to learn. To gain experience.

  But all he had learned so far?

  Was how utterly useless he was.

  A Dungeon is Not a Place for the Weak

  They reached a fork in the path.

  Two tunnels stretched ahead—one veering left, the other sloping downward into thicker darkness.

  Gareth frowned.

  “The left path loops back toward the entrance,” he murmured.

  “The right one leads deeper.”

  A pause.

  Then he looked at Ethan.

  “You carrying the map?”

  Ethan snapped out of his thoughts.

  “Uh, yeah.”

  He quickly pulled the rolled parchment from his pack, hands fumbling slightly.

  He felt Kara’s eyes boring into him but ignored it.

  Gareth took the map, scanning the faded lines before nodding.

  “We take the right path.”

  “Great,” Kara muttered. “More of them will be waiting.”

  She wasn’t wrong.

  Ethan didn’t have a class or a skill, but even he could tell—something was lurking in that darkness.

  The deeper they went, the heavier the air became.

  The cavern walls seemed to close in around them, the flickering torchlight barely cutting through the thick blackness.

  Then—

  A low snarl.

  Not close.

  But waiting. Watching.

  Ethan swallowed.

  His gut told him this next fight wouldn’t be as easy.

  As they prepared to move forward, Ethan felt a strange pressure in his skull.

  It wasn’t exhaustion.

  It wasn’t fear.

  It was something else.

  And then—

  The memory hit.

  The school was already in flames.

  Windows shattered.

  Bodies—teachers, parents, children—scattered across the pavement, lifeless.

  And standing amidst the destruction—

  Was a new Rift.

  Not like the others.

  This one was bigger.

  Darker.

  And from within—

  Something else stepped out.

  The Creature That Took Her

  It wasn’t like the monsters that had come before.

  They had been savage, feral.

  This one?

  It walked.

  Slow. Deliberate. With purpose.

  It was tall—easily seven feet, draped in something like armor, but its body wasn’t metal or flesh.

  It was wrong.

  Like its form didn’t quite fit in this reality.

  Its limbs shifted as it moved, its shape flickering for half a second—

  As if it was deciding what to be.

  And its eyes.

  Ethan would never forget those eyes.

  Black voids, with a single, glowing red ring in the center.

  Not like an animal.

  Not like a machine.

  Something old. Something watching.

  Something choosing.

  And when its head tilted, its empty gaze locking onto him—

  A sickening pulse of energy rippled outward.

  A single, unspoken command.

  The monsters around it stopped attacking.

  They moved aside.

  And Ethan realized—

  This thing wasn’t here to kill at random.

  It was here to collect.

  To take something specific.

  And then—

  It turned.

  And reached for Emma.

  She screamed, tears running down her face. “ETHAN!” The memory shattered.

  Back in the Dungeon Ethan staggered. His breath was ragged, his vision blurry. The nightmare had felt so real. For a moment, he had been there again. Watching her disappear all over again. “Voss.” Gareth’s voice snapped him back. He turned, eyes wide, hands clenched into fists. The entire team was staring at him. He had frozen again. Kara scoffed. “Are you serious?” Ethan exhaled shakily. “I—I’m fine.” “No,” Kara said bluntly. “You’re a mess.” She stepped closer, eyes cold. “I don’t know what your deal is, but you better get your shit together. Because we’re moving forward, with or without you.” Ethan didn’t respond. Because he knew—she was right. If he didn’t fix whatever was wrong with him— He was going to get himself killed.